New Plan
by skwirelygurli
Summary: Everyone thinks that Austin and Ally are together. Auslly.


**New Plan, an Austin and Ally oneshot**

**I do not own Austin and Ally. To fulfill my macaroni and cheese and movies prompt. Reviews are appreciated!**

As of late, Austin's been having this problem. One that he likes to call 'Ally is Ruining My Love Life.'

_With every problem, the first step is to define it. _

(_Example one)_

It had been a dreary Saturday afternoon, one filled with raindrops and clouds. The cupboards, however, unlike the skies, had been empty.

"Austin, can you get the groceries?" his mother asked, headed to the mattress store.

"But mom, we're working on a song." The first verse was a mess, the second not any straighter. It would take hours to finish.

She dug her keys out of her purse. "Take Ally with you."

"We could use a break." The papers were already being pushed aside, her seat backwards. He didn't have a say in this. All he had was a fifty dollar bill being slid into his palm.

His mother took the car, and they had to walk. It was only a drizzle, but he found the umbrella and drew her closer to his body. Sharing was difficult.

Then again, so was having an ever slight romantic inclination to his best friend.

He liked to think he could hide that better than he could from the rain. Half of his body stuck out of the umbrella in an attempt to keep her dry.

Still, he didn't want to draw her closer. The closer she was to him, the closer he was to his breaking point.

He couldn't break. Duct tape doesn't save sanity.

They passed a cute girl on the street, holding a magazine over her head to avoid getting her hair wet. Neither of them knew how long she had been standing there, grocery bags in her hand. He could have walked over to her, held the umbrella over her head. He could have made a date, told her that she was pretty.

That would have taken away another pretty girl's protection from the fattening drops.

The girl looked to them, smiled. One of those distinct smiles that he couldn't mistake for anything else, having seen it all too often.

She thought that they were together.

She also thought that they were adorable.

Together.

Her ride pulled up to the curb, and she got in.

"What do we need to get?" Ally asked as they turned up the side road leading to the store. A simple question to fill the silence created by his obvious staring.

He removed the list from his pocket. A drop of rain fell, smearing the ink.

"Um, I'm not sure."

_(Example one, part two)_

Standing in line at the register, with seven boxes of macaroni riding the conveyor belt, as he could not distinguish a blurred one from a seven, the cashier shook her head.

"You sure know how to plan a week of romantic dinners, " she joked, stacking them into a bag.

His eyes trailed to Ally. They weren't together. And if they were, he'd be fancier than macaroni and cheese. There's nothing fancy about cheese and noodles. Unless you're making heart shaped raviolis. Cheesy, in both senses of the word, and romantic.

"It's for my mom. She sent us grocery shopping," he explained, double checking the list. Was that a seven?

"Well, I'll get you two out of here so you can go have fun then." She winked. He hoped that he misread it, that it was in fact a blink, or something in her eye. He wasn't going to have fun with her. They were going to put their noses to the songbook and pull their hair out in distress. Their own respective hair. He wasn't going to be tugging on her locks.

No matter how strong that inclination was growing.

_(Example two, part one)_

"Two please." He held his fingers up to the guy in the ticket booth. He ripped two admissions tickets off the roll.

"Four dollars."

He took a five out of his wallet. Ally placed her hand on his arm to stop him.

"I'll pay this time." She held out her own bill. He was always insisting on being the one to pay. It was sweet, but she felt guilty. It was time to return the favor.

"Don't worry about it."

Apparently they ran on different clocks. That he already knew. His clock was speeding towards romance, and her minute hand seemed to be lethargic, taking its sweet time.

The ticket guy didn't take either bill.

"Really, it's fine." He moved his hand forward.

"I-"

"Just let your boyfriend pay already!" a girl behind them shouted in frustration. A cute girl, who had no visible boyfriend. A girl he could have sat next to and charmed and dated.

A girl that jumped to the wrong conclusion.

A girl he'd never get.

_(Example two, part two)_

Ally excused herself to use the bathroom after the first movie. His arm swung up to the back of her chair to reserve her spot.

"'Sup? I'm Austin." He nodded to the girls next to him.

"Claire." Her bracelets clattered as she stuck a hand out for him. Sliding his palm against hers, he shook it. The expression on her face wasn't one of pleasure.

Oh, he was supposed to kiss it, like royalty.

She's pretty and all, but he normally waits until the end of the first date to kiss a girl.

"Rosalie, say hello." Elbowing the petite girl next to her, she got her to look up from her phone.

"Hello." Eyes went back to her phone.

"My parents are making me babysit her while they go play in Colorado." Cracking her gum, she spit it into the wrapper. For a few minutes they discussed skiing, as that's how he had spent his vacation there. She listened and inserted compliments where necessary.

Ally squeezed past to make it to her seat. He neglected to remove his arm from her chair.

She neglected to ask him to.

Claire drew her own conclusions. Ones that solidified as his arm slipped down to her shoulders.

It stayed there.

_Problem: Girls assume that he is dating Ally, and therefore unavailable._

_Step two, devising a plan._

All he needed to do was make it obvious that they were not together. No hand holding, no hugging, no late nights, no treating, no flirty looks across the store, no bringing her up in conversations she's not a part of- nothing.

It sounded a lot more like excommunication than proving they were just friends.

It sounded like torture.

_Third step, carry out the plan._

He couldn't do this. It was impossible.

Excitement about their gig, a joint one, with duets and solos, led to a hug. Tap tap. That was his hand on her back, and then separation. His body cried out in protest.

"Everything okay?" she had asked him later after he avoided eye contact for a few hours, left her hanging in a high five.

"I'm fine." He was. He wasn't good or great, but he was surviving. It would all be worth it.

It would have been, had the girls not thought he was avoiding her because he had a crush on her. That mat have been because Dez loudly suggested the idea while surrounded by assorted females.

His plan needed revamping.

_New plan: Admit Ally is more than a friend._

_Third step, carry out the plan without sweating through his pants._

"Why were you ignoring me yesterday?"

"Because everyone thinks we're together. I didn't want them to think that."

She processed the answer. "You said didn't."

"I know." A nervous smile took over his face.

He changed his mind.

_Final step, look back._

He kisses her cheek and sets a bowl of macaroni in front of her.

"How many more boxes do you have left?" His mother had wanted one box after all.

"We ate two, and Dez made art out of another box, so four?" The macaroni bracelet slides off his wrist, onto the table.

"At least he remembered not to use cooked macaroni this time." He'd made half the box, presented them with wet noodle jewelry.

Mouth stuffed, he smiled in agreement.

_New Plan: Live happily ever after._


End file.
